by Diana Cercone
You’ve probably heard the saying “easy as pie.” Well, to anyone who has sifted through mounds of flour, beat pounds of butter (unsalted, of course) or tins of lard to a creamy consistency—not to mention a day’s worth of peeling apples, peaches or pears—knows, it is not easy to make a pie. I know. Though considered by my family and friends to hold my own when cooking, the art of baking alludes me. So much so that I gave up trying years ago. I even convinced myself I didn’t like pie. Tamping down any memories of my mom’s scrumptious pies she’d crown our holiday tables with.
That is until one fine Saturday this past May. My sister-in-law, Susan, bought a rhubarb and strawberry hand pie from the Wrightstown Farmers Market as a treat for me since I was home-bound, having recently had shoulder surgery. The hand pie, she said, was made by Pie Bird Farm.
I thanked her, not letting on that I was less than thrilled. (It’s the thought that counts, right?). I set it aside while I put away the market’s other fresh bounty she had bought. But every time I moved the hand pie, which was six-inches wide, weighed about 1/2 lb. and enclosed in an open-ended, pastry wrapper, I could feel that it was still warm. Its aroma ignited my tastebuds and, like Odysseus, I capitulated to its siren call. Still I told myself, “Okay, one bite and then toss.”
Boldly, like confronting an enemy, I took a bite standing and eating it over my kitchen sink, ready to defend my tastebuds. The rush of sweetness from the strawberries quickly followed by the refreshing tang of the rhubarb left an intoxicating mouth feel of deliciousness. And, oh, the crust! Buttery, sweet and flaky. Before I knew it, I gobbled it up like I had never had had pie before. And just as clear as a dry martini, I knew I had to have more.
Pie Bird Farm is the culinary creation of husband and wife team, Eric Theesfeld and Jennifer (Jen) Brodsky. Jen is the baker and Eric, a jack of all trades kind of guy, heads farming their land with Jen as well as prepping the fruit that she magically turns into pies.
I caught up with them one Saturday on their 58-acre, 1860’s farmstead in Ottsville. Caught up might not be entirely true. My Siri was not cooperating that morning and, totally lost and a half hour late for our interview, I called Jen. “No worries,” she said, and sent Eric to my rescue.
Shortly after, Eric pulled next to my car in Wehrung’s Lumber & Home Center’s parking lot. Flashing a country-wide smile, he said it happens all the time—even to delivery truck drivers to the farm—and told me to follow him. (I figured he said that to make me feel better. But, once at the farm, he assured me he didn’t.) He also introduced me to his car companion, one-year-old Potato, affectionally called Tater, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Jen and Eric had adopted him from Waiting on a Friend Animal Rescue in Ottsville.
For now, Eric said, all the pies are made in their farm house. Most of the pie-making and prep work happens in their airy, walk-out basement stainless steel kitchen, with the rolling of dough and boxing of the baked pies in the window-filled room upstairs. The future plan is to move the pie baking operation to the farmstead’s barn, a short walk from their kitchen door.
As I walk down the stairs, strains of “C’est si bon” (“It’s so good!”), a classic French jazz standard fills the air. Reaching the bottom, I turn to find Jen, her hair tucked beneath a dark green baseball cap with the words “May the Forest Be With You” imprinted on the front, busy crimping mini tart shells at the large work table. Not missing a crimp, she looks up and, greeting me with a warm smile that shows off her dimples, explains that ever since she saw Meryl Streep in It’s Complicated, she tunes into a French song station on Pandora when creating her pies.
As we chat, Jen confesses that she wasn’t much of a pie person herself at first. Growing up in Bristol, and later in East Falls, she says, making pies wasn’t among her parents’ talents. Her first encounter with pie-making came when she was in 5th grade at The Miquon School in Conshohocken. Her assignment was to make a pie from scratch without a recipe. So memorable was her success that upon graduating, her art teacher had drawn a pie on her diploma to commemorate her achievement.
Watching her expertly roll out dough for the mini tarts which, when baked, she’ll fill with her freshly made lemon curd and crown with fresh whipped cream and blueberries, it’s hard to believe so many years had passed since her Miquon pie-making. So seemingly natural does it suit her.
Fast-forward to 2020. By then, Jen had traveled to Europe, joining a friend in Ireland where she belonged to the only CSA [at the time] on the Aran Island. That fall, she helped friends create a huge dinner around a pumpkin from the farm. That simple act of creating something from a single vegetable to bring people together has driven her career and life ever since, she says.
Leaving Ireland, she worked at a farm in France for a short time before heading back to the States. By now, farming and community became her raison’d’etre.
Back home, Jen worked as a farm manager for the first organic farm in Montgomery County before settling in Bucks County, where she worked with José Garces on his New Hope farm; become a food consultant and a vocal voice for fresh, local food; as well as meeting Eric online (their first date was on Valentine’s Day), and, later, marrying him. The couple moved to Erwinna before buying their present Ottsville farmstead almost four years ago.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, she and Eric opened Farmhand, delivering food from local farms to customers from Newtown to Riegelsville. On a whim, Jen added a mixed fruit galette she had made to the menu. An immediate hit, the galette sold out with customers clamoring for more.
Shortly after, the couple sold their business and bought their Ottsville homestead with the goal of becoming regenerative farmers and pie makers. For by now, Jen had become passionate about making pies and seeing how through them, she and Eric connect with their community—both with the farmers whose products she uses and with her customers who buy—one delicious bite at a time.
And, oh, her pies! Each is made from scratch using only quality ingredients: either organic, like the cultured, organic butter and cream from Oasis Farm in Lancaster, or from local farms and orchards that practice sustainable farming. “Ingredients are the inspiration for me,” Jen says. “I’m not looking for short-cuts, though I probably should. But I just can’t. Nothing I use is pre-sliced or manufactured.”
That’s evident in her perfect in every way pies. The array of which seems boundless. Jen is always thinking of new creations, such as her recent Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Pie with a rhubarb compote and lilac-infused whipped cream. Jen likes to add a compote to some of the pies, she says, especially a mixed berry one. Lately, she says, she’s been thinking of a double chocolate crumb crusted cream pie with cocoa and chocolate chips. (Gotta love the way this woman thinks!)
Some of the pies she’ll be making this fall and for the holidays are: Classic Lattice Apple, Salted Caramel Apple, Blueberry, Pumpkin, Salted Caramel Bottom Pumpkin, Maple Whipped Cream, Pear Maple, Cheesecake Pie with Italian Plum Compote and Mile-High Apple as well as hand pies and galettes. All full-size pies and galettes are nine-inch and chock full of fruit. Her Mile-High Apple starts with a whopping seven pounds of apples and, after baking, comes in around a hefty five pounds.
So want to know what’s really easy as pie? Eating one of Pie Bird’s. C’est si bon!
You can find Pie Bird pies one Saturday a month at the Wrightstown Farmers Market (wrightstownfarmersmarket.org), Wheat & Vine Provision Co. in Doylestown (wheatandvineprovisions.com) and Farmer Jawn (farmerjawn.com), a 2024 James Beard Award Winner, in Westown, as well as at Pie Bird Farm (piebirdfarm.com). For all venues, call or check its website for pie availability or to place an order. For example, Jessica Jackson, co-owner of Wheat & Vine with her husband, Kevin, picks up freshly baked pies from Pie Bird Farm on Friday mornings to sell in their shop. For Thanksgiving pies, all orders should be placed by mid-October.
Diana Cercone is an area freelance writer who specializes in food, art and travel.